How has HMRC performed in the past year?
By Susan Cattell, Head of Tax Technical Policy
18 February 2022
ICAS will be giving input to the Charter Stakeholder group on how HMRC has been performing against its Charter standards over the past year - let us know what your experience has been.
What is the HMRC Charter?
Finance Act 2009 required HMRC to publish a Charter which must include, “standards of behaviour and values to which HMRC will aspire when dealing with people in the exercise of their functions”. A new version of the Charter was launched in November 2020 following a consultation to which ICAS contributed.
HMRC is also required to make an annual report reviewing the extent to which it has demonstrated the standards of behaviour and values included in the Charter.
The Charter Stakeholder group
The group is made up of representatives of the tax community, including ICAS, ICAEW and the CIOT. It holds regular meetings with HMRC which discuss how the Charter is being reflected in taxpayer and agent experience of dealing with HMRC. It also gives formal input about how HMRC is performing against the standards in the Charter, for inclusion in the annual report.
ICAS assessment of HMRC performance to February 2022
ICAS will shortly be providing its assessment of HMRC performance against the Charter standards for the period April 2021 to February 2022 to the Charter Stakeholder Group, for the 2022 annual report.
This has been another challenging period for HMRC. We have had numerous concerns about HMRC service standards reported to us by Members over the past year – these have been raised with the Financial Secretary to the Treasury and regularly with HMRC. Some longer-term underlying problems we noted in our Charter response last year, such as access to the right HMRC expertise, have not been addressed. However, HMRC has continued with some positive work to improve its compliance communications and to try to embed the Charter standards across its employees in all business areas.
We would welcome feedback about experiences of dealing with HMRC since last April, with particular reference to the Charter standards. We would also welcome comments on two specific questions.
Performance against the individual Charter Standards
Let us know to what extent you consider HMRC has met the standards:
- Getting things right
- Making things easy
- Being responsive
- Treating you fairly
- Being aware of your personal situation
- Recognising that someone can represent you
- Keeping your data secure
The two specific questions
Leaving aside issues with service levels:
- Have you noticed any impact of the Charter on HMRC conduct between April 2021 and February 2022?
- What element of the Charter should HMRC focus on in 2022-23?
How to send us your feedback
Please send us your input by emailing tax@icas.com. Whilst we are looking for feedback now for the 2022 annual report, the Charter Stakeholder group will be continuing to meet with HMRC regularly. We also raise issues with HMRC through a range of other stakeholder groups. We therefore welcome ongoing feedback about your experiences of dealing with HMRC and how HMRC is performing against the Charter standards.